The report sets out how the livestock industry is responding to the challenge of reducing its greenhouse gas footprint.
The Grasslands Trust, which has previously highlighted the important role that semi-natural grasslands play as a carbon sink, welcomed EBLEX’s recognition that carbon storage in grassland soils needs to be factored in to any calculations of the carbon footprint of the livestock sector.
Miles King, director of conservation at The Grasslands Trust said “there is increasing evidence of the critical role that grassland soils play in storing carbon. Restoring agricultural grassland to a wildlife-rich state can lead to it storing over three tonnes of extra carbon per hectare per year and this accumulation is on a par with most types of woodland carbon storage.
The eighteenth annual ialeUK (International Association for Landscape Ecology UK) conference has recently taken place at Wolverhampton University with more than eighty people from around the world, writes Carol Miers.
But what does a landscape ecologist actually do? I wondered how this affects people who work on gardens and landscapes? Here ialeUK member, Dr Chris Young, senior lecturer at Wolverhampton University answers some questions.
The Peak District National Park Authority has put in place a temporary ban of off-road vehicles in a bid to protect 'a landscape of the highest international importance'.
The move comes after severe damage to the Chapel Gate track between Chapel-en-le-Frith and Edale: the experimental traffic order regulation will exclude motorised vehicles for eighteen months.
Although the track is designated as a right of way for motorised vehicles the authority’s audit, resources and performance committee decided that the damage is so severe that only a total ban would help restore the three kilometre long track.
The A3 Hindhead Tunnel project has now entered the final phase before its historic opening in July.
Last weekend, 7,000 people (17,000 applied for tickets) walked the 1.2 miles through the tunnel which was built to relieve the bottleneck at the Hindhead traffic lights - the only set of traffic lights on the whole of the A3 between Portsmouth and London.
The £371 million project was started in January 2007 taking nearly 4,500 people just over fifty-four months to complete.
The family of a young girl, Tylar Butcher, who was bitten by an adder in Hampshire's New Forest, holds 'no ill feelings' towards adders, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
Tylar's grandfather, Bill Flitney is concerned that the incident could spark a public reaction against adders.
WWF’s 50th anniversary garden, ‘Why we care about chalk streams’ to highlight the importance of water conservation in the charity’s work in the UK.
The WWF garden, created by garden designer Fiona Stephenson and supported by the HSBC Climate Partnership, recreates a tranquil chalk stream with a twist to inspire visitors to protect the UK’s threatened rivers and eco-systems.
The garden hints at a country scene with a chalk stream, but on closer inspection there are hidden messages - a giant plug and sphere artwork allude to this habitat being under threat from our over use and extraction of water.
Environment Minister Richard Benyon has launched the Check, Clean, Dry campaign to stop the spread of aquatic invasive non-native species.
The campaign aims to counter the threat to Britain’s economy and wildlife posed by the spread of invasive non-native species such as the “killer shrimp”.
Talking at the launch, Richard Benyon commented:
“Aggressive species from across the world have the potential to reach Britain and cause real damage and even wipe out some of our native wildlife.
Stephen R. Carpenter, Professor of Zoology and Limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will receive the 2011 Stockholm Water Prize.
Carpenter's research has shown how lake ecosystems are affected by the surrounding landscape and by human activities. His findings have formed the basis for concrete solutions on how to manage lakes.
Professor Carpenter is recognised as one of the world's most influential environmental scientists in the field of ecology. By combining theoretical models and large-scale lake experiments he has re-framed our understanding of freshwater environments and how lake ecosystems are impacted by humans and the surrounding landscape.
I've never been convinced that the use of peat in horticultural products has ever had a significant impact on the world's environment and if I was even the slightest bit worried before - after reading a press release from the International Peat Society IPS on their global strategy for responsible peatland management - I'm not the slightest bit worried now.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand has made a film 'Of forests and men' with his production company Good Planet for the launch of the United Nations International year of the forests.
What first appeared on the earth 380 million years ago? What is home to more than half the planet's species? What still covers almost one third of the planet's total land area? Forests and woodland, in 2011.
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